Fairfield County economic development is fueled through partnerships

FAIRFIELD COUNTY − Fairfield County is a community with a fast-growing economy, in large part due to the county's collaboration with its cities, townships, and villages.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Fairfield County had an estimated population of 158,921 in 2020. In 2022, the population increased to an estimated 162,898, marking an estimated 2.5% population increase over just two years.

As the fifth-highest-growing county in Ohio since 2010, Fairfield County has plenty of potential to continue growing.

While there are challenges, including the availability of large sites, those working within the county are excited about the future.

Approach to economic development

A unique strength of Fairfield County's economy is the commitment to cooperation between different entities in the county. This has helped the economy in Fairfield County continue to develop over the years.

According to Lancaster Mayor David Scheffler, the city's strong relationship with the county is a unique one. He specifically mentioned Lancaster Economic Development Director and Executive Director of the Lancaster Port Authority Stephanie Bosco and Fairfield County Economic Development Director Rick Szabrak by name when discussing the partnerships.

"The City of Lancaster and Fairfield County have a very strong relationship which is maybe unusual," said Scheffler. "I'm aware of cities and county seats that are suing each other and a lot of times the commissioners and city administrations don't get along for whatever reason. But we have a very good working relationship, we talk to them on a regular basis and certainly, Stephanie (Bosco) and Rick (Szabrak) coordinate very closely with opportunities, resources, and how we can bring not only more business but for instance housing to the area because both of those needs are pretty acute."

Scheffler was not the only public official to point out the strong relationship between county entities; officials from Violet Township echoed the same sentiments.

"We work with (the county) almost every day," said Township Administrator for Violet Township Vince Utterback. "I've talked to Rick Szabrak multiple times within the past week. We share information and kind of go back and forth. We want to be pro-business and offer good services to people who are going to come here, but we also want to offer individuals a workplace where they won't have to drive outside of Fairfield County. Those are two important aspects that I think we're all committed to."

Violet Township Trustee Lori Sanders elaborated on her close work with the county.

"Mine, in addition to that, has been serving on some of the steering committees," said Sanders.

Sanders said she has served on steering committees to help guide the direction of the county. One example she gave was her work helping with Fairfield County's comprehensive plan.

Ultimately, Sanders said that Violet Township tries to follow in the county's footsteps and that the relationship has been very productive.

"We're trying to make sure that we're united and singing the same song," said Sanders. "We depend on them."

"So, the relationship, being a new person I don't know what it was like before, but that relationship is going very well," said Sanders.

Proximity to Columbus is factor

Working in the favor of Fairfield County's economic development is its location. Specifically, the county's proximity to Columbus, the largest city in Ohio, has been helpful.

As Fairfield County Economic Development Director, Szabrak has had a first-hand look at how the city's location relative to Columbus has been a benefit.

"Columbus is within a day's drive of half of the population of the United States and Canada," said Szabrak. "So, it's a great location and obviously with companies like Intel coming here, we're just going to keep seeing more and more growth in the region. Columbus is the 14th largest city in the country, and it's the fastest growing region in the Midwest, so it's a great place to be right now for a workforce and we don't have a lot of the issues you find on the coasts."

Scheffler expanded on Szabrak's point by demonstrating how Lancaster's location has been a benefit to the city's economic development.

"Our location on Route 33 gives great access to the transportation routes; I-70, I-71, obviously 33 goes all the way to West Virginia," said Scheffler. "That's been a goal for a long time of ODOT and the state to make Route 33 traffic light free, so development down here has access to that transportation. We also have Columbus airports available, John Glenn has flights all over the place. So, all those things are a benefit to us."

Based on Szabrak and Scheffler's assessments, Fairfield County's location on Route 33 as well as its proximity to Columbus allow for great access to growth opportunities.

Big projects brining 100s of jobs

One major indication of Fairfield County's growth is the big projects being brought in. Many of these projects bring hundreds of jobs with them and help the county expand.

Among the big projects that have been brought to Fairfield County over the past few years are the following:

• Cirba Solutions: Expanding and investing $2 million into upgrading and expanding their facility.

• Magna Seating Columbus: Opened in 2019 with a commitment of 200 jobs. Last year, they announced that they have created nearly 390 jobs and that they expect to create another 224.

• Chioda Integre: Signed a lease to move into the Lancaster Port Authority's speculative building in 2021. They have created seven new jobs.

• Blue Label: Young labeling company that has expanded three times in the past three years. They have doubled their workforce to 150 as well as adding warehouses and offices.

• Google Data Center: In May, Google officially announced that it is building two more data centers in Central Ohio, with Lancaster being home to one of the new locations. These additional data centers bring Google's investment in Ohio to more than $2 billion.

Challenges include lack of space for large sites

While Fairfield County has a fast-growing economy with a lot of promise, there are still challenges facing the county.

According to Bosco, Lancaster is facing multiple challenges, including a lack of space to accommodate large sites.

"Right now, one of the challenges is that there are a lot of large-scale users looking to come to Lancaster but we just don't have large sites anymore," said Bosco. "Our largest sites have been purchased and developed on."

She said that another problem facing Lancaster is that it's just not on some people's radars yet.

"Developers and users in the Columbus region have not been down here enough to realize how close we are to Columbus, how close we are to the interstates," said Bosco.

"Honestly, they just don't know about us yet," said Bosco. "Not enough people know about how accessible we are or that we have skilled labor. We're a community that is open to development and new well-paying jobs and that our local elected officials are in favor of seeing new well-paying jobs here, so you're not going to get a lot of fight in Lancaster."

For Fairfield County as a whole, Szabrak said that there is a different challenge. He said that having enough land available for sale is the toughest problem facing the county's economic development.

"It's inventory, being able to have enough land or enough people interested in selling and developing their land," said Szabrak. "A lot of individuals who have shown interest in that land are kind of waiting on a big pay day and holding off until the price is right. Quite frankly, it's being able to get more land for sale."

Szabrak's point about available land being a major need for the county was echoed by Scheffler.

"More land, more industrial site land," said Scheffler. "There are many opportunities that need 100 acres, 200 acres, and the big ones, even more. We do not have an inventory of that size site for those projects. The sites that we have are typically 30, 40, 50 acres, if we had a 200-acre site for instance, it would open us for much larger development than we have attracted in the past."

Aaron Burd is a breaking news and government reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him via email at AMBurd@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @AaronMBurd.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Fairfield County economic development: County, cities, townships work together